Electrical Conundrum

[Bodge_It_Baz]

First time poster. Be gentle with me....

I had an outside socket installed some 15 years ago when I had an extension built. However, this socket is not far off ground level and as I'm not as young as I used to be, I have decided to raise the socket up to a more convenient level. The intention is to put a junction box where the original socket was and then run a feed from that to a new socket. I'm always very wary when dealing with electrics and am forever testing circuits with my multimeter.

So, I switched the 'outside socket' off on my consumer unit, but I'm a bit perplexed that when I test the circuit, there still seems to be a certain amount of voltage being registered, about 10 volts. Even more perplexing is that I taped the bare wires up, to protect them from the weather, as I was leaving the job for another day, and it completely tripped my consumer unit. As I have continued to work on it (as I'm also installing a switch from the same junction box for some low powered LEDs), I have repeatedly tripped the main fuse box, even though the power to this circuit is turned off. Can anyone shed any light as to why this is happening?

Thanks in anticipation for your help.

 

[terryplumb]

I suspect you are turning off an MCB that protects the circuit ,and what is tripping is an RCD ,which would trip as the MCB only isolates the line. Leaving the neutral and earth still connected.

 

[JohnW2]

So, I switched the 'outside socket' off on my consumer unit, but I'm a bit perplexed that when I test the circuit, there still seems to be a certain amount of voltage being registered, about 10 volts.

That is almost certainly due to 'stray pickup' of electricity, coupled with a modern ('over-sensitive', in some senses) multimeter. Nothing in itself anything to worry about.

Even more perplexing is that I taped the bare wires up, to protect them from the weather, as I was leaving the job for another day, and it completely tripped my consumer unit.

If when taping up the wires, you allowed the neutral and earth ones touch, that would usually result in an RCD tripping, even if the circuit was switched off by an MCB in the consumer unit (which usually does not disconnect the neutral).

Kind Regards, John